Watchdog: Similar cases, different responses

MANSFIELD – Two similar but unrelated incidents in Richland County involving suspects believed to have been armed paint different pictures of Richland County Sheriff's Office policy.

The first case resulted in Lexington man Brian Garber's death. The second ended with the arrest of Ryan Seevers, of Bellville, on domestic violence assault charges.

Seevers, 33, was scheduled to appear in court on the charges two weeks ago, but never showed. Judge Frank Ardis has issued a bench warrant for his arrest.

Each incident started as a domestic violence call; both suspects were said to have harmed their loved ones; both suspects were said to be acting out of character because of prescription pills or some other state-altering drug; both suspects had prior records with police — Garber for domestic violence and Seevers for drugs and alcohol use; and both suspects were said to have access to guns.

But how deputies handled the respective calls was very different.

"We make the determination based on the facts given to us," sheriff's Maj. Joe Masi said. "Every situation is different."

Brian Garber

Garber, 28, was shot and killed by an unnamed Richland County Sheriff's deputy around 8:30 p.m. March 16 after calls to 911 reported he had a gun at his parents' house, 3400 Mill Run Road.

Deputies had been at Garber's home across the street earlier that day to check a domestic violence report in which Garber was said to be hurting his wife and mother as a result of his depression medication.

Several deputies responded to the scene, four of whom entered the home while a fifth remained stationed outside. Garber was said to be in an upstairs bedroom and had been sending threatening messages to his wife.

Garber's father, Matthew Garber, who was in the home at the time, said he waited downstairs while officers headed upstairs. He maintains that deputies never announced themselves before several shots sounded, despite it being a part of their policy.

"Prior to discharging a firearm to protect human life or prevent the escape of a fleeing felon, employees shall identify themselves as a Sheriff's Office employee and give warning of their intent to shoot, when feasible," Section 11.2-B of the department's policy reads.

Sheriff Sgt. Jimmy Sweat said there are scenarios, despite policy, in which officers would not announce themselves based on the circumstances, but he added that in most cases deputies want subjects to know they are there.

Sweat and Masi refused to comment on specifics of the Garber case, deferring all questions to the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation, which took over the investigation at the request of the sheriff's office.

A warrant issued hours later said Garber was shot and killed after he confronted deputies with a firearm, but a list of evidence collected by BCI did not include a gun. It did include 16 spent casings and five recovered fired bullets.

The exact cause of the shooting remains under investigation.

Ryan Seevers

A month later, deputies responded to the 6800 block of Follin Road for a different domestic violence call.

On April 14, suspect Ryan Seevers' girlfriend told deputies that he was under the influence and had put his hands around her chest and neck and was damaging their residence. He later crashed a Ford Ranger into a pond near the house.

She added Seevers had several guns inside the residence and he had locked himself inside. He was alone in the home, Masi said.

When sheriff's deputies arrived, they called for assistance from Allied Special Operation Response Team (ASORT) and the Hostage Negotiations Team (HNT), made up of officers from the Mansfield Police Department, Ontario Police Department and the sheriff's office.

According to Richland County Sheriff's Office policy, the teams are typically used in barricaded subject and hostage situations — neither of which applied in this case, according to Masi.

In an interview, Masi said Seevers' case did not qualify as a barricaded subject because he had not blocked the doors to prevent officers from entering. HNT records obtained by the News Journal concerning the incident, however, label the call as a barricaded subject because Seevers would not respond when negotiators tried to contact him through his cellphone and over the public address system.

"I continued every four minutes, alternating back and forth from texting to leaving voice mails, for three hours to contact him (Seevers) on the phone," Lt. Tommy Hill wrote in his after-action report. "It is believed that he did not have the phone in his possession."

HNT members also noted in their reports that the door was unlocked when they entered the home.

Seevers was found "in a master bedroom in the rear of the house. He claimed he had been sleeping and did not hear us. Ryan was arrested without incident," according to the HNT report.

Seevers did not receive charges relating to the standoff.

Involvement from ASORT and HNT cost involved agencies at least $2,041.81 in overtime and use of equipment, according to receipt records provided by each involved agency.

"Just because I handle something one way and get outcome A, and he handles something another way and gets outcome B, doesn't mean that either of us are wrong," Sweat said.